topping trees good?
- Thread starter Darin
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Mr. McPeak: Just for the record I do not use spikes or a bucket truck. Don't call someone lazy untill you know exactly what they do and how they do it, trust me that my way takes a lot more skill also. Ignorance and over-generalization, the double threat.
i have never seen a tree die from spikes.
Koa Man
Kahuna giganticus
TreeCo said:
Ladders are good. I take a 12 ft. section of an old extension ladder out to almost every tree I climb. It is real easy to carry and the amount of time and energy it saves is huge. Way faster than even spiking to the first lateral. Told a climber friend with 25 years experience to take a ladder with him and even gave him a ladder section. He now refuses to go to work with out it. He couldn't believe he was struggling to get up the first 10 ft. all these years.
"i have never seen a tree die from spikes."
I have--read this *** :
A TALE OF TWO OAK TREES
Lightning struck twice in Wake County, NC last year, and two big oak trees bore the brunt. What happened next tells a tale of Scrooge-like assumptions, and how Great Expectations can go awry.
A white oak grew in an undisturbed area. The blast had torn off a spiraling streak of bark from top to bottom. The arborist saw that the open wound was no more than 12” wide, and tapped the bark on either side of the wound with his rubber mallet to see how much more had been detached from the wood.
The total bark damage at the bottom indicated the tree might be saveable, so the next step was an aerial inspection. He climbed to the top and trimmed away (“traced”) the torn bark on the edges of the wound on his way down. Bark that was sound, yet detached, was stapled back to the wood so it might readhere, shrinking the infection court. The roots on the blasted side were inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi and fertilized.
The tree was nominated for an award in the Meritorious category by a member of the Capital Trees Program. The registered forester who came out to inspect it said “Bah, Humbug!” Nominated trees must be in good condition to receive an award, and the forester assumed all lightning-blasted trees are rendered useless.
Nevertheless, treatment went forward. The arborist removed two of the damaged lead branches from the crown. He sprayed exposed xylem with eucalyptus oil to repel opportunistic woodboring insects. Over 2” of scar tissue has grown over the wound in one season, and the oak leafed out fully next spring. Well on its way to recovery, it was finally granted a Meritorious Award. During the second growing season the callus thickened remarkably and closed over up to two more inches of the xylem. The wood was sprayed once more with botanical repellent.
The second oak majestically defined the edge of the historic district in Fuquay-Varina. Two years before, the Capital Trees Program had given it an Historic Tree Award. Scant lawn in full sun covered half the root system, and little of the rest was mulched. The lightning damage seemed just slightly wider than the first, so the arborist started treating the wound as before.
***Below some old pruning cuts halfway down, a portion of bark over 4’ square was detached. Curiously, it wasn’t near the lightning wound! Insects had entered wounds made by climbing spikes and eaten away the cambium. That climber must have dug in his spikes to keep his balance as he cut, with Great Expectations that those little holes couldn’t possibly hurt that great big tree. Aggravating this injury was the bare ground underneath. Oaks being ring-porous, the roots that were needed to help repair this damaged side of the tree had too many problems of their own to perform that function.
Added to the lightning wound, this human-made injury put the total dead bark area over one-third of the circumference. Despite insect control, fertilization, and, belatedly, mulch, the prognosis was poor. Little scar tissue grows, and half the crown is pale. The tree’s useful years were over, clearly due to the use of climbing spikes and root abuse. ***
Lightning may someday inflict a Twist-ed scar on your trees, but you can keep storms, disease and insects from picking your urban forest’s pocket. A healthy root environment below organic groundcover costs less than a cup of gruel. The tree provides it for free when it sheds its leaves. That, and lack of damage above the ground, can keep your trees growing great Lightning may scare the Dickens out of you, but it’s nothing to lose all your trees over.
I have--read this *** :
A TALE OF TWO OAK TREES
Lightning struck twice in Wake County, NC last year, and two big oak trees bore the brunt. What happened next tells a tale of Scrooge-like assumptions, and how Great Expectations can go awry.
A white oak grew in an undisturbed area. The blast had torn off a spiraling streak of bark from top to bottom. The arborist saw that the open wound was no more than 12” wide, and tapped the bark on either side of the wound with his rubber mallet to see how much more had been detached from the wood.
The total bark damage at the bottom indicated the tree might be saveable, so the next step was an aerial inspection. He climbed to the top and trimmed away (“traced”) the torn bark on the edges of the wound on his way down. Bark that was sound, yet detached, was stapled back to the wood so it might readhere, shrinking the infection court. The roots on the blasted side were inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi and fertilized.
The tree was nominated for an award in the Meritorious category by a member of the Capital Trees Program. The registered forester who came out to inspect it said “Bah, Humbug!” Nominated trees must be in good condition to receive an award, and the forester assumed all lightning-blasted trees are rendered useless.
Nevertheless, treatment went forward. The arborist removed two of the damaged lead branches from the crown. He sprayed exposed xylem with eucalyptus oil to repel opportunistic woodboring insects. Over 2” of scar tissue has grown over the wound in one season, and the oak leafed out fully next spring. Well on its way to recovery, it was finally granted a Meritorious Award. During the second growing season the callus thickened remarkably and closed over up to two more inches of the xylem. The wood was sprayed once more with botanical repellent.
The second oak majestically defined the edge of the historic district in Fuquay-Varina. Two years before, the Capital Trees Program had given it an Historic Tree Award. Scant lawn in full sun covered half the root system, and little of the rest was mulched. The lightning damage seemed just slightly wider than the first, so the arborist started treating the wound as before.
***Below some old pruning cuts halfway down, a portion of bark over 4’ square was detached. Curiously, it wasn’t near the lightning wound! Insects had entered wounds made by climbing spikes and eaten away the cambium. That climber must have dug in his spikes to keep his balance as he cut, with Great Expectations that those little holes couldn’t possibly hurt that great big tree. Aggravating this injury was the bare ground underneath. Oaks being ring-porous, the roots that were needed to help repair this damaged side of the tree had too many problems of their own to perform that function.
Added to the lightning wound, this human-made injury put the total dead bark area over one-third of the circumference. Despite insect control, fertilization, and, belatedly, mulch, the prognosis was poor. Little scar tissue grows, and half the crown is pale. The tree’s useful years were over, clearly due to the use of climbing spikes and root abuse. ***
Lightning may someday inflict a Twist-ed scar on your trees, but you can keep storms, disease and insects from picking your urban forest’s pocket. A healthy root environment below organic groundcover costs less than a cup of gruel. The tree provides it for free when it sheds its leaves. That, and lack of damage above the ground, can keep your trees growing great Lightning may scare the Dickens out of you, but it’s nothing to lose all your trees over.
JonnyHart
ArboristSite Operative
I mentioned this in a thread awhile ago. I think I killed an oak with my spikes. We went to a job to remove a mid size dead pin oak( about 60'). I removed the tree with my spurs on. Than the owner asks me to trim a smaller pin oak on his front lawn, (this was before I came upon this arboristsite, I now realize I could easily have done the trim without spikes) so I spiked up the 25 feet or so and did what he asked, just get it away from the house a bit. Not even two months later, we returned to the mans house to remove the tree I trimmed because it was dead. I couldn't help but feel very guilty. My theory is that I spread infection from the dead removal to the live trim by either my spikes or saw, or both. I'm not too informed about "sudden oak death", but this seemed pretty sudden to me. 
Last edited:
John Paul Sanborn
Above average climber
More then likely it was oak wilt transfered via root graft, the pin was infected before you got on site.
But I'm glad you learned a lesson.
But I'm glad you learned a lesson.
John Paul Sanborn
Above average climber
Maybe it's possible for a medium sized tree, but 8 weeks is a pretty short time fro innoculation to total system failure.
Tough I think he got the point.
Tough I think he got the point.
JonnyHart
ArboristSite Operative
I'm not making this up man. All the leaves were brown and dry. Had to be july or august. All the other trees were nice and green. The company I worked for at the time did not do fertilizing or chemical applications, maybe it could have been saved. 
jason j ladue
Vanilla Snoop
excellent.glens said:
John Paul Sanborn
Above average climber
So when did get taken out of the forbidden words?
For me it was as much for the general discussion as anything else. I did not think Good Harry would have come back.
For me it was as much for the general discussion as anything else. I did not think Good Harry would have come back.
